The burlap sack was stifling.
I was jostled up and down, dizzy, my head smacking against—who knew what—either a rock or the kidnapper’s knobby knee. One loud thunk, and even my earwax felt shaken loose.
“Unbelievable…” I rolled over, pressing my face to the bottom of the sack, slipping into deep, tragic self-reflection.
—This won’t do.
If every disaster ends with me being hauled off like luggage, what kind of male lead am I? I’m basically a walking, crying, portable mess.
Cliff-diving at Luanfeng Ridge, chased by Foot Monster at Qushan Village, nearly hung up as a lantern in Chongping City—my dignity had long been flattened into a foot mat by fate.
I inhaled a lungful of dusty cloth, clenched my fists.
“No. I’m an awakened protagonist now. I can’t just lie here waiting to be rescued!”
【Ding—System Notice: Protagonist Awareness +3.】
【Current Status: Conscious. Highly emotional. Intelligence temporarily activated.】
“Right!” I nodded, fired up.
Then I yelled, “Hey! Kidnappers! Listen up! Let me out! Blood Lotus Sect pays rewards!”
Only the howling wind answered.
I wriggled forward, pressing my mouth to the fabric.
“I’m serious! Our Sect Leader is handsome, good-tempered, very honorable—if he says he’ll reward you, he’ll reward you! Let me go and you’ll get paid—”
Still nothing. Someone sneezed. Probably didn’t hear a word.
I switched tactics immediately.
“Well—fine! Then let’s negotiate! I am the young master of the Nangong General’s Manor! The Nangong family—also pays rewards! Release me and I promise you wealth and glory—”
Before I finished, a booming laugh exploded outside.
A laugh I knew.
“Oh? Since when does my Nangong Manor pay bounties for you, little brother? Should I go claim a silver note too?”
The sack suddenly loosened.
I didn’t even have time to scream—sunlight burst in, blinding me.
When I finally cracked my eyes open, I saw a familiar silhouette framed in the light—tall, straight-backed, with a proud nose, sharp eyes, and that unmistakably “big-brother-ish” smirk.
“Bo?!” It’s my big brother?!
“Good boy.”
He bent down, hauled me out of the sack with one hand, and patted my head.
“You think we’d forget you?”
I broke instantly. I latched onto his leg like a koala, wailing:
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Big brother—! You finally came—I’m so miserable!”
“I was willingly traveling and they still kidnapped me!”
“I’ve jumped off cliffs, fought monsters, stumbled into homicides!”
“Last night I didn’t even have dry clothes—had to sleep by a fire! I woke up to a battle, then fell off a ridge, then woke up in a sack—!”
“I’m the hardest-working male lead in existence, wuwuwuwu—!”
I cried into his leg, smearing tears and snot everywhere.
The system drifted up, voice awkward:
【Ahem… small reminder… your big brother seems like he wants to say something.】
I sobbed louder. “I know you feel bad for me! I swear I’ll behave, even if you make me wash clothes for a whole year—”
“Little Gong.”
“...Mm?”
“Let go first. My leg’s numb.”
I froze.
I looked up—my brother’s face was rigid with pain, half-kneeling, one leg twisted by my desperate death grip.
“Ahem… I was just… excited to see you.” I coughed and let go.
“So! Big brother—can we go home now?”
But the moment I said it, all my tears shut off like a faucet.
Home?
Nangong Manor wasn’t my home anymore.
My brother once protected me, father loved me, servants bowed respectfully—
But now I was nothing more than a cast-off disgrace with a banishment decree, clinging to life under the temporary identity of “Blood Lotus Sect Leader’s bodyguard.”
I smoothed my clothes and lowered my eyes, suddenly cold and calm.
My brother—no, the Nangong heir—paused, noticing the shift in me.
“Why aren’t you bawling anymore?”
“…don’t want to trouble you.”
My voice was thin, like a leaf.
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to go home?”
“Yeah.” I smiled faintly.
“But a stray dog living off scraps shouldn’t disturb the general’s household.”
He truly didn’t understand.
He frowned and tugged my collar straight.
“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re my brother. Who dares dislike you?”
My chest tightened; my nose stung.
He pulled me to my feet, grinning as he ruffled my hair:
“Come on, troublemaker. Our father sent me here not just to fetch you—”
“Then… why?”
“To retrieve you—and to kill someone.”
His smile deepened, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
The system coughed politely:
【Main Quest Updated: Nangong Manor Arc unlocked. Danger Level: SSS.
Advice: Cling to his leg. Avoid talking nonsense.】
…This system was getting too fluent in human sarcasm.
My brother and I walked until we reached a creek.
He sat down, pulled out a wine flask, and offered it to me.
“Drink?”
I reached for it—then recoiled in suspicion.
“You didn’t drug it, did you?”
“……”
He stared at me like I’d grown hooves, then took a swig himself.
“You really have been kidnapped stupid.”
“This is basic survival awareness, thank you.” I sniffed.
He shot me a look, half amused.
“Speaking of which… do you still have that jade pendant?”
“……”
My heart stopped.
Here it came.
My hand lifted instinctively to my waist.
Of course it wasn’t there.
I’d gifted it—gifted it!!—to Lian as a “birthday offering,” even stuffing it into his palm with trembling sincerity—
‘Take this. It means you take my whole life.’
Turns out I might’ve offered him my entire clan’s life too.
“Heh.” I laughed weakly. “Why bring that up…?”
He didn’t notice the panic in my tone.
Instead, he pulled a sealed scroll from his boot and unrolled it on his knee.
“I’m not only here for you. I’m here to pick up something.”
“What… something?”
“The military seal.”
His tone was calm. Too calm.
“……”
My soul nearly left my body.
“Father hid the National Pacification Seal on you,” he continued casually, “to throw the court’s spies off our trail. The Nangong forces have already withdrawn. That pendant you carried is the only clue left.”
“Once this ruse is exposed, the royal family will panic.
And the first target…”
He glanced at me, expression unreadable.
“Will be you.”
